Parachute Festival 2011

Carolyn threw the dish brush to where we were washing dishes, but her aim was so bad that she threw it on the roof of the bach. James and I went in for the recovery operation.

 Thursday in Mangakino was spent mostly in packing up and tidying after having spent a couple of weeks in the same spot. It was another beautiful day, so we headed down to the lake again. After the rain earlier in the week, the lake was smelling much fresher, though was still as opaque as ever.

Brian "Head" Welch and band freaking out the religious people with his performance. I actually enjoyed it more than I would have when I was a teenager.

Carolyn drove most of the way to the parachute festival on Firday morning. It was her first big tow of the caravan since her near accident on the day we left christchurch and the road, for the most part, was quite narrow and windy. Fortunately there was very little traffic to stress her out, and she regained a lot of confidence. We arrived at parachute just before noon, along with thousands of others. It's been a crazy time - there are far too many events to be able to get to everything that you want to see. And it's tricky to coordinate the family across the site. We've enjoyed the festival very much here though. Abigail has been to see a number of dancing acts, Carolyn and I mainly stuck to the main stage (there are about 5 different stages scattered around). James has enjoyed the kids programme, and Esther has enjoyed the free WiFi, and visiting different acts. We saw the V rocketman blast off and fly over the crowd. Athough James was a bit close, and got a face and mouthful of dust. I've managed to score some bottles of V for the drive home. I had one last night at 5pm, and was able to stay up until the end of the main stage events at about midnight. That's pretty good for someone who hasn't even seen in a New Year since 2000.

Monday morning now. The festival is winding down. There are a few events this morning on the main stage. We will probably go to those, then pack up and head for Wellington.